The gap is familiarity, not information
A regular sitter succeeds partly on paper and partly on everything she has absorbed across many visits: which squeak means the door, which neighbour's dog to cross the road for. A locum stepping in once has none of that cushion, so her handover has to carry in writing what the regular carries in her head. That means the standing document for a locum needs the small, lived details owners usually leave out because the regular already knows, written down explicitly rather than assumed.
Write one standing handover and give it to everyone
Create the handover as a permanent document, not a note dashed off per booking: feeding amounts, times and where food is kept; walk length, usual route and on-lead rules; toilet routine and garden arrangements; evening settling habits; vet practice details and your contact numbers; and a short section on quirks, such as a fear of scooters or a habit of guarding a favourite toy. Your regular sitter gets the same document and corrects it from experience, which is what keeps it honest. Include where cleaning supplies, spare leads and the dog's towel live, because a locum hunting through cupboards while a muddy dog waits by the door is exactly where small accidents and escapes tend to happen. The locum then receives a handover that has been tested, not a first draft.
Add a first-visit layer for someone who has never met the dog
On top of the standing document, give the locum three things the regular no longer needs: how the dog usually greets a stranger at the door, how she will know the dog is relaxed versus merely tolerating her, and which instruction matters most if she can only remember one. Invite questions before the sitting day and answer them in writing added to the document, because an answer given only on the doorstep evaporates. If distance allows, a brief introductory visit transforms the handover from theory into recognition for both dog and sitter.
Make the emergency section impossible to miss
Put what to do if something goes wrong at the front, not the end: your mobile number, a second contact who can physically get there, the vet practice and its out-of-hours arrangement, and clear permission wording for seeking urgent veterinary care. A locum has no history with your vet and no confidence about what you would want, so spell out that a genuinely worried sitter should phone the vet first and you second. Locums hesitate longest exactly when speed matters, and written permission removes that hesitation.
Review the document after every sit, whoever sat
Ask each sitter, including the one-off locum, what the handover failed to mention, and fold the answer in the same week. A locum's fresh eyes are in fact the best audit your document will ever get, because she can report precisely where a stranger stumbled. Note her feedback beside the relevant section so the improvement is visible. Sharing that tested, standing handover through a KinsLe Care Pass gives any sitter you bring in, regular or first-timer, temporary and clear access to the same complete routine before she arrives.